


Strobe

by Angryangryowl



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: As close to fluff as this ship gets, Dancing, Disguise, First Kiss, Kissing, M/M, Sneaking Out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-09
Updated: 2016-02-09
Packaged: 2018-05-19 10:32:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5964112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angryangryowl/pseuds/Angryangryowl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For the Kylux February 2016 Fic exchange. The prompt I chose was 'Disguising themselves as Stormtroopers.' I played a bit fast and loose with the prompt, but Hux definitely deserves a day off, a night out and...maybe a kiss? </p><p>Kylo watches Hux eyeing up a junior officer and notes that he never has any fun with anything. Hux insists he is fine, but Kylo rules-don't-apply-to-me Ren decides he needs a night out and a little fun. Enjoy :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Strobe

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Syrum](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Syrum/gifts).



> I definitely imagined them dancing to Madeon's Pop Culture mix, it never fails to put a big stupid smile on my face (Also...C'mon, rock my world. Kylo would love that), but the title is a big nod the the Deadmau5 song of the same name, another song on my writing playlist.

‘You’re not used to this, are you?’

Hux glanced up at Kylo over the rim of his glass of brandy. He’d already told himself that it was protocol and not Kylo’s insistence that had brought him to the officer’s ward room in the first place. After a victory, drinks were customary, many of the junior officers were already thoroughly inebriated, the wine served to officers was far superior to the cheap beer served to the regular troopers and many were celebrating their first victory as an officer.

‘You’ll forgive me if I don’t dance on the table just yet’ Hux replied dryly.

‘You don’t even like the taste that much, and your cheeks are already pink.’ 

‘I only achieved my current rank by remarkably good judgement, why would I want to drink? So I could make rash and impulsive decisions and then regret them? That’s surely more your area.’

Kylo glared, taking another mouthful of his wine. ‘Because it’s fun. Because you never enjoy anything. You’re not enjoying that, you don’t enjoy company or food or sex or-‘

Kylo followed Hux’s eyes as they drifted slightly to look behind him, a newly-promoted Captain (Maddox, Hux thinks) has already removed his uniform tunic and undone the top couple of buttons of his dress shirt. Such behaviour. But dressed like this, the young man’s broad chest and shoulders are more apparent, his uniform trousers are particularly well-fitted, he’s sharing some lewd joke and laughing loudly.

Kylo’s eyes darken a little as he realises exactly where Hux is looking and what he’s thinking. 

‘He’s too young for you.’ Escapes before Kylo can stop it, he curses himself internally, hot embarrassment prickling across his shoulders.

Hux turns back to Kylo, his eyes narrowing dangerously. ‘Is that so? I’m curious, why do you think that?’ His tone would be enough to see lesser men cowering before him, tripping over their apologies and begging to be allowed to leave.

‘He’s only twenty-four. An immature twenty-four. Still finding out how many people he can get into bed based on his uniform.’ He noted with a satisfied smile as the guffawing from the group increased in volume, Maddox demonstrating something especially distasteful with a wine glass.

‘Of course.’ Hux continued, his bright tone entirely false. ‘Perhaps you should invite him back to your quarters?’

'I'm not the one staring at him!'

‘You seem far more interested in him than I am. I’m sure Snoke would turn a blind eye if you chose to-‘

Ren was close to throwing Hux across the room, but stilled his hand as a better idea crept into his mind. He smiled, savouring the moment and another sip of his wine. Hux barely noticed a glint in those dark eyes. His smile was deeply distracting and he preferred to avoid it. He’d begun to wonder exactly why he was sat here, several thing must already be demanding his attention. ‘You should enjoy something away from your work anyway. Someone away from work.’

Hux knew Ren was at least slightly unhinged, now he looked at him as though he had lost his mind entirely. ‘You’re not serious.’

Kylo nodded.

‘What makes you think I need to?’ he hissed. Kylo’s presumption that he needed any sort of help or pity got his hackles up straight away, how dare this hulking child assume he was incapable of….having fun. Meeting someone to share his bed, if only for a night. He had enough power to seduce most people, he wasn’t bad looking, he was fit and had excellent manners. But he preferred his books, his work, and his own company. Anything else just seemed so undignified. Not to mention unsanitary.

He couldn’t help but wonder though. Save for a few experimental kisses and fumblings while still at the academy (not unpleasant), he’d abstained. Kylo saw all of this, including the kisses and the slight increase in Hux’s blood pressure that recalling them had caused. Now Hux was considering throwing Kylo across the room, despite Kylo’s size and relying only on his own strength. He felt his cheeks flush.  
‘Mason, hmm? Second year at the academy? He was a beautiful boy, those big blue eyes. And I thought you’d eviscerate anyone who came close enough!’ Kylo’s smugness shone through his feigned shock.

‘Get the hell out of my head.’ Hux seethed.

‘Come with me, an away mission.’

‘I’d rather throw myself out of the airlock.’

‘I can arrange that afterwards, if you’d like. Come with me. Unless you’re worried?’

‘What would I have to be worried about?’

‘You may accidentally enjoy yourself, find some gorgeous young thing…’

‘I doubt that. And I’d never be able to go, not without security. Phasma will garrotte me for the sheer amount of paperwork. Many people know my face, and know that I oversaw the murder of their families. We wouldn’t last five minutes.’

‘For the greatest strategist of his generation, you’re not particularly creative. I’ll send some things to your quarters. Say you’re going to bed, not to be disturbed. Phasma can handle things for a few hours. Be ready, 21:00 hours. Bring a blaster.’

‘This is ridiculous!’

‘And yet you’re not saying no, General.’ Hux could have sworn Kylo winked at him before sweeping out of the room. 

A few hours later, Hux found himself questioning his sanity. This seemed to happen quite a lot when Ren was around, particularly when he took his advice. He eyed himself in the mirror. Definitely too much make up, contact lenses to darken his eyes and a wig. Chin-legnth, brunette, nothing too conspicuous. It grazed his high cheekbones. And he definitely preferred his uniform to Stormtrooper armour, despite being both heavily armoured and heavily armed, he felt strangely vulnerable.

He sighed, pulling the helmet on, eyeing the display on his comm link, and wondering exactly what he had to prove to Ren that made this necessary. But the idea of a few hours away, not being responsible, being human seemed oddly appealing the way that Ren described it. It would certainly be an experience. Time to leave. The soft knock came at precisely the right time.

‘I thought you might not show.’ Ren’s voice was even deeper through the Stormtrooper mask, he was also as tall as Captain Phasma and a rather imposing sight. Hux could not believe at thirty four years old, and at the rank of general, he was sneaking out like a naughty child. ‘I was tempted not to. But I can’t say I’m not intrigued.’

Hux straightened his back and marched, straight for hangar two. Mercifully, they only saw other troopers at a distance. Having to make small talk and disguise his voice and tone, even through a voice modulator, could be tricky. He took a sidelong glance at Ren. It was impossible to tell through the mask, but Hux could almost feel his grin.

They took a discreet shuttle, an older model mainly used for transporting small numbers of troops. Nothing like the sleek Upsilon class Kylo usually travelled in, but then, they weren’t looking to impress or terrify. Kylo settled into the pilot seat, flexing his long fingers in his gloves as he took the controls. Hux felt the first prickle of nerves as he clicked on the comm link control and started flicking switches, effortless, like he’d been doing this every day of his life. Hux sat on a bench just behind Kylo, fastening a harness around himself as he felt the shuttle come to life beneath him, holding his breath through the flight checks.

‘Control, this is KH-2901, requesting permission to depart.’

The comm link crackled back almost immediately

‘KH-2901, request nature of your mission?’

Taxiing into the launch bay, Kylo continued. Perhaps feeling like the Finalizer was his ship where he could do exactly as he pleased came in handy on this occaision, Hux mused to himself.

‘Routine supply mission to surface, control, check your departure schedule!’

His left hand gestured strangely, and the voice from control faltered.

‘Uuuh…sorry about that, KH-2901, you are cleared for departure.’

Once clear of the Finalizer and cruising on autopilot, Kylo clicked off the comm link and removed his helmet. His hair hung in his face and he was grinning that wide, infectious grin that Hux rarely saw. ‘I can’t believe we did that.’

Hux removed his own helmet, a smile tugging at one corner of his own mouth. ‘Neither can I.’

‘Dressed for the occasion?’

Kylo nodded to Hux’s sudden change of haircut. Hux brushed it out of his eyes, the fringe took some getting used to.

‘Hardly my dress uniform. I don’t want that kind of attention.’

‘I thought you might have at least one outfit that wasn’t First Order issued.’

Hux stood and began removing the armour in response. Kylo continued to watch with lazy interest, leaning back in the chair. Finally removing the last of the leg plating, Hux stood in a fitted black shirt, and equally fitted trousers, with sleek black boots. Not flashy, but well-cut and undoubtedly expensive. Kylo raised an eyebrow and stood, taking the few steps to close the distance between him. Hux almost flinched as he reached out a hand, the demand to know what he was doing died on his tongue as Kylo unfastened the top two buttons of his collar with careful fingers.  
‘We’ll be there soon, few minutes. You should probably strap yourself in, General.’

***  
Waiting on the surface for Kylo to get rid of his armour and cloak the shuttle, he couldn’t help but wonder exactly why people did this for fun. He could be settled at his desk with a glass of brandy and a book right now, had Kylo wished to join him, that may even have been tolerable. Kylo exited, wearing a simple hooded black robe with a leather belt. No helmet, no mask. 

‘Why do I have to disguise myself and you don’t?’

‘Few people see me without my mask. You should feel privileged.’ He smiled, continuing towards the lights of a town in the distance, cloaking the shuttle with a wave of his hand. ‘I can’t promise they’ll have brandy, but I’m sure they have something.’ 

Hux wasn’t sure if there was a local festival, or if every night might be like this, but the grubby nightclub Kylo led them to was packed. All races and species crowded at the bar, two different songs seemed to be having some sort of competition to drown out the other, and shouts in at least ten different languages made anything Kylo said to him impossible to understand, trying to read his lips proved both distracting and fruitless. Eventually he just nodded, and Kylo nodded in response, his hand on Hux’s shoulder before he vanished.

He reappeared a few minutes later, holding two glasses of something brightly coloured and lethally strong but otherwise unrecognisable. They sat at first, wedged into a corner under a low window. It seemed almost pointless to try and talk, so they sipped for a few minutes watching the ever-changing scene, a young twi’lek dancer eyeing Hux quickly moved on when Kylo’s hand casually found it’s way onto his knee. He managed this without looking at the girl or Hux, just looked straight on, downing the dregs of his glass like a man drinking his last and standing, melting into the crowd once more.

Just when Hux was beginning to wonder if it was worth trying to find the shuttle on his own, Kylo re-appeared, four short glasses half-full with clear liquid in his hands. He handed Hux two, leaning in to talk closer to his ear. Hux tried to convince himself that Kylo’s hand resting lightly on his hip as he did so was just a coincidence.

‘Drink these, don’t taste it, just swallow. Then come and dance.’

Hux couldn’t think of a single part of either sentence that he liked. But since he was here, and suitably intrigued by Kylo and his new quirk of touching him, almost continually and smiling, perhaps he’d stay for a few drinks. He knocked back both drinks, one after the other, and winced. He was fairly sure engineering cleaned down old shuttle parts with this stuff, but the warmth it spread, rising like a tide through his stomach and chest and washing over his cheeks was far more pleasant.

Someone seemed to have decided on one song, it was possibly even louder now, the bassline seemed to pulse through the ground beneath his feet. Nobody looked at them as Kylo grabbed his hand and pulled him onto the dancefloor, leading him through too many elbows, horns, tentacles and bodies slick with sweat, couples dancing far too close, people laughing, shouting the lyrics, their hands stretched to the night sky.  
Finding a small space amongst the crush of bodies, Kylo turned to face him so quickly Hux ran straight into his chest. He moved away quickly, Kylo already beginning to dance, joining in with the chorus Hux didn’t know. The roar of the crowd and the liquor surging through his bloodstream, the lights streaking emerald green and nebula purple across Kylo’s pale features, the glow of euphoria rising in his chest, it was all strangely intoxicating. He was dancing, a little stiffly at first but starting to move, the crush of the crowd pushing them chest to chest.

He flinched at the sudden contact, ready to fight his way out, Kylo’s hands on his waist were strangely familiar, guiding his hips in a slow shake to the beat. His brain was lazily stumbling around the idea that the man who infuriated him so regularly was melting away all the fight in him with those warm, sure hands when Kylo’s lips met his, one of those broad hands trailing to his back beneath his shirt, as if they weren’t quite close enough.  
Hux sunk into the kiss, heated and clumsy, his own hands finding Kylo’s waist. His mouth was subtly sweet and faintly metallic, overridden with the sharp tang of alcohol. Hux’s tongue traced his bottom lip for a better taste. Kylo responded with a barely-contained gasp, fingers digging into his hip raised goosebumps all over Hux's skin, a thrill shooting up his spine. Kylo was sucking maddeningly slowly on his bottom lip, Hux’s heart felt ready to give out and he made a vague mental not to find out exactly what else he could do with those hands. He could feel Kylo’s lazy smile as he moved away, only a little, resting their foreheads together as they rocked to the slowing beat, brushing the occasional kiss across his cheekbone. The dark hair brushing Hux’s cheek smelled of soap, sweat and rain. 

Really, he’d always known that someone away from work was impossible.


End file.
